NASCAR legend killed in Daytona 500
Race world mourns Earnhardt's death
by A 1 Pearce
February 22, 2001
Knight-Ridder Tribune
The first fans arrived at Langley
Speedway at 3 p.m., four hours be
fore the start of Wednesday night's
tribute to Dale Earnhardt. They had
come from North Carolina to join
thousands of others in mourning the
loss of the biggest name in American
motorsports.
And they kept coming.
By 5:30, traffic was backed up for
three blocks on North Armistead Av
enue. By 6:45, the speedway’s park
ing lots were filled. At 7:45, fully 15
minutes after the program, fans were
streaming in and others were trying
to leave.
They all had come with one thought
in mind,
"I'm here looking for closure," said
Barbara Woerner, a Hampton, Va.,
resident who began pulling for
Earnhardt in the late 1980 s at a Busch
Series race near Charlotte. "To me,
this has been like losing a member of
Damage by alleged spy
called ‘extremely grave’
by Mike Doming
February 21, 2001
Chicago Tribune
WASHINGTON - A veteran FBI counterin
telligence agent was charged Tuesday with
spying for Moscow for 15 years, doing "ex
tremely grave” damage to national security by
exposing numerous sensitive U.S. intelligence
operations and providing information that led
to the executions of at least two American
double agents in Russia.
Robert Philip Hanssen, a former Chicago
police officer who has been an FBI agent since
1976, was arrested Sunday evening after al
legedly leaving a package of classified docu
ments for his Russian handlers at a designated
drop point under a footbridge in a wooded park
in suburban Virginia.
According to an affidavit filed in court
against Hanssen, he volunteered to become a
paid spy for the KGB during the Cold War and
continued working for its successor agency,
over the years earning at least $1.4 million in
cash, diamonds and foreign bank deposits for
his services.
After his arrest, the FBI collected $50,000
in a plastic trash bag allegedly for Hanssen -
- at another drop site.
The affidavit also describes cloak-and-dag
ger intrigue, including the use of "dead drops"
in public parks, signals passed by tape placed
on public signs, numerical ciphers to disguise
meeting dates and times, and communication
through newspaper want ads.
Hanssen, 56, apparently operated undetec
ted despite holding a series of highly sensitive
positions in the FBl’s Washington headquar
ters and in its New York field office, a hub of
spying and counterespionage operations. He
came under suspicion in the fall after U.S. in
telligence agencies obtained Russian docu
ments describing communications with an
agent code-named “Ramon.”
Excerpts from those communications quote
Hanssen musing about his Chicago past, sug
gesting as the August 1991 Soviet coup was
unfolding that the country's leaders could ben
efit from a “thorough study” of Mayor Rich
ard J. Daley's management of Chicago. They
also show a healthy ego. with Hanssen derid
ing the work of another FBI counterintelligence
officer, and they suggest a teenage fascination
with becoming a double agent for Russia.
According to the FBI, Hanssen drew on his
counterintelligence experience to take extraor
dinary precautions to protect himself, never
revealing his identity to his Russian handlers
and refusing to meet with them.
He also was careful not to live beyond his
means and did not appear to press for large
payments, communications show. "I have little
need or utility for more than 100,000 [dollars].
It merely provides a difficulty since I cannot
spend it, store it or invest it easily. ... Eventu
ally I would appreciate an escape plan,” he
wrote in a 1985 letter to his handlers after his
first delivery to them.
The pattern of information contained in his
communications to Moscow made him the
leading suspect once the FBI analyzed the
Russian documents.
FBI Director Louis Freeh said that although
the agency was only beginning to assess the
damage to national security, the information
Hanssen provided to his handlers appeared to
my family. I heard it might rain to
night, but I wouldn't have missed this
for the world."
Apparently, neither would have
more than 5,000 other fans. Most of
the grandstand was filled and fans
stood three-deep along the
frontstretch walkway. They hooted
and hollered and cheered every men
tion of the man they had come to
know and love.
Langley's huge American Hag flew
at half-staff. All five positions on its
scoreboard showed 3, the number
Earnhardt made famous. Most of the
fans queued up to sign one of the
dozen or so sympathy books that will
be sent to Earnhardt's family and that
of team owner Richard Childress.
There were three look-alike
Chevrolets, painted, lettered and num
bered identical to the Intimidator's
race car. A makeshift memorial had
popped up near the front gate. Fans
carefully laid flowers, cards, die-cast
cars, checkered flags, signed photos,
posters and Goodwrench No. 3 hats
at the site.
Robert Philip Hanssen, 56, has been ar
rested and accused of spying for Russia
and the former Soviet Union during his
time as a counterintelligence officer for the
FBI.
have done “extremely grave” harm. Freeh said
Hanssen's conduct “represents the most trai
torous actions imaginable.”
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One,
President Bush said it was “a difficult day for
those who love our country, and especially for
those who serve our country in law enforce
ment and in the intelligence community.”
But, he added, "to anyone who would be
tray its trust, I warn you: We'll find you and
we'll bring you to justice.”
Hanssen allegedly turned over more than
6,000 pages of highly sensitive documents,
including long-range plans for U.S. intelli
gence-gathering and detailed information on
electronic surveillance techniques and targets.
The information on surveillance can be es
pecially damaging because the Soviets would
have been able to use that knowledge to plant
misleading information for U.S. intelligence
agencies, espionage experts said.
Hanssen is charged with betraying “numer
ous” U.S. double agents working for the So
viet Union and Russia. The affidavit says one
of his first acts was to name three moles who
already had been revealed by CIA double agent
Aldrich Ames.
With the corroboration from Hanssen, two
of the moles who were working in the Soviet
Embassy in Washington were called back and
executed. The third, who had worked in San
Francisco, was imprisoned by the KGB and
released after the fall of the Soviet Union, ac
cording to the affidavit.
In 1989, Hanssen tipped off his handlers to
an espionage investigation of U.S. diplomat
Felix Bloch, compromising the case against the
suspected Soviet spy, Freeh said. Bloch was
fired by the State Department but never pros
ecuted.
Hanssen also is accused of identifying po
tential recruits within the U.S. government,
including a military officer, not named in the
affidavit, whom Hanssen allegedly knew in
Chicago.
Hanssen may have nursed teenage dreams
of espionage.
According to the affidavit, in a letter alleg
edly left for his Russian handler in March 2000,
Hanssen wrote, “I decided on this course when
"I've cried every night since it hap
pened," said Susanne Pitsillides of
Hampton. "I pulled for him for years,
then sort of started pulling for Jeff
Gordon because I liked how his car
looked. But Dale has always been
where my heart is. This has shaken
me up worse than if it had happened
to Gordon."
Pitsillides, her husband and a
cousin had Turn 4 tickets at the 1999
and 2000 Daytona 500 s. She's glad
they missed last weekend's race. "We
would have been right there, looking
at it when they took him out of the
car and covered it up," she said. "And
we would have felt so helpless.
"Sunday night, we got calls from
friends who knew what we were go
ing through. The comfort of that was
better than the 12-hour drive home,
listening to the radio. It was fate that
we weren't there. Looking back on the
TV coverage, I think they knew he
was dead. All the signs were there."
Valerie Liddycoat of Hampton
knows a thing or two about the perils
of racing. She's a noted American
I was 14 years old. I'd read Philby’s book [an
apparent reference to notorious British double
agent Harold “Kim” Philby, once head of the
Soviet section of British Secret Intelligence],
Now, that is insane, eh! My only hesitations
were my security concerns under uncertainty.
I hate uncertainty. So far I have judged the edge
correctly.”
In another communication, he muses about
what he considers to be the failings of the FBl's
lead agent in the Bloch investigation, which
he writes could have been successful if the FBI
supervisor had acted more decisively.
The communications also show an agent
well-aware of the serious consequences of his
actions.
“Recent changes in U.S. law now attach the
death penalty to my help to y0u.... I know far
better than most what minefields are laid and
the risks,” he writes in one letter quoted in the
affidavit.
FBI PHOTO
Hanssen used FBI computer systems to
monitor whether he, his home or any of the
drop sites he used had come under suspicion,
Freeh said. Freeh also said Hanssen appeared
to be working alone as a double agent. The
FBI has identified several of his Russian han
dlers, but Freeh declined to comment on
whether they would be expelled from the coun
try or prosecuted.
Hanssen was arraigned Tuesday in federal
court in Alexandria, Va., on charges of espio
nage and conspiracy to commit espionage. His
attorney, Plato Cacheris, a prominent Wash
ington defense attorney who also represented
Ames, said Hanssen would plead not guilty “at
this point.”
Cacheris said law-enforcement authorities
“always talk that they've got a great case. But
we'll see.”
Hanssen, he added, is “quite upset. He's just
emotional.”
Prosecutors have not decided whether to
pursue capital charges.
Hanssen's modest split-level house in sub
urban Virginia was surrounded Tuesday by
yellow police tape as FBI agents searched it.
Neighbors described Hanssen, his wife and
their six children as a close family. His wife,
Bernadette, teaches religion part-time at a
Catholic school.
Power Boat Association driver who's
competed for years. She could tell by
the look on Ken Schrader's face that
Earnhardt was gravely injured.
"I watched the race at home, then
we gathered around the news because
we knew something was bad," she
said. "When they talked to Schrader,
I sort of began preparing myself. The
TV people weren't acting quite right.
When they announced it, I burst into
tears.”
There were tears Wednesday night,
but there also were cheers and hugs
and happy memories. The biggest
cheer came when a long-time
Earnhardt-watcher told the joke about
the late Neil Bonnett watching a race
in heaven.
Bonnett recognized the 7 of Alan
Kulwicki, the 28 of Davey Allison, the
8 of Joe Weatherly and the 22 of Fire
ball Roberts. But he was puzzled
about a black No. 3, and asked St.
Peter if something dreadful had hap
pened to Earnhardt.
"No," St. Peter told Bonnett, "that's
just God. He thinks he's Earnhardt."
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Napster offers to pay record
companies $1 billion
by Jon Healey
and RJ. Huf&tutter
Los Angeles Times
“At $lO a person, that’s only $l2O million a
SAN FRANCISCO _ Trying to stave off extinc- year,” said Leigh, assuming the monthly charge
tion without driving off all its users, online mu- would be at the high end of $lO. ‘They're either
sic powerhouse Napster Inc. announced an offer going to have to convince more people to stay
Tuesday topay record companiessl billionover with the service or draw revenues from other
five years for the right to include copyrighted sources.”
music in a new, fee-based version of its music- The appeal of the new service will depend
swapping network. heavily on Napster's ability to attract the major
Company executives and Thomas Middlehoff, label groups. None have signed on so far, al
chief of media conglomerate Bertelsthann. im- though Bertelsmann-owned BMG has said it will
plored the labels to suspend their legal assault work with the new Napster service if it meets
while all the parties worked out a deal. BMG's criteria for security.
The offer, which both fans and critics see as a “For this to work, Napster has to have every
desperate gamble, comes as the company and its thing, from any MP3 file you want to terrific
users nervously await a preliminary injunction customer service," said Gene Hoffman, chief
from U.S. District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel in executive of EMusic.com, an online rival. “If it
San, Francisco. .That injunction could force ..has ey^ty^hiqg ( theasgedplewill pay. Rigtunhw,
Napster, to Jblock access the most popular. it doesq'tjhayeeverything." ", 5
songs, eviscerating the current version of the A hint of possible help came from EMI on
service. Tuesday, which has struck more deals with online
The major labels reacted coolly to Tuesday’s music companies than any other mqjor label
offer, although they didn't rule out a deal with group.
Napster if their concerns about unauthorized ‘'We're open to any and all models that help
copying were met. our artists make a living and help our bottom
“We would not support a proposal that allows line,” said Jay Samit, a senior vice president at
Napster to continue to operate in the current un- EMI. "It sounds on the surface that at least
lawful form while developing a business model,” somebody's thinking about ways of compensate
staid Dick Parsons, chief operating officer of AOL ing everybody in the food chain.”
Time Warner Inc. “They need to shut down, then Napster Chief Executive Hank Barry said the
we can talk.” company will go out of business if it can’t raise
. Bob Bernstein, a spokesman for Vivendi the $2OO million in promised payments.
Universal's Universal Music Croup, said: “It is But if the company succeeds wildly, the cur-
Napster's responsibility to come to the creative rent offer still caps payments to thelabels at $2OO
community with a legitimate business model and million. That puts the labels in the awkward po*
a system that protects our artists and copyrights, sition of having their income from Napster
... Nothing we have heard in the past and noth* capped but not the royalty payments they owe
ing we have heard today suggests they have yet artists and songwriters, who typically collect each
been able to accomplish that task." time a recording is reproduces!.
A spokeswoman for the record labels* trade Under the proposal, the five major label groups
association dismissed Napster’s offer as a pub- would divide an annual kitty of $l5O million,
lie-relations gimmick. “This is a strategy to put with independent labels and unsigned artists di
public pressure on the (record) companies, rather vidhtg an additional $5O million a year.Tbe deal
than have face-to-face meetings with the com- would be the largest offer ever made for music
panies they're trying to deal with," said Amy licenses, Napster officials contended.
Weiss of the Recording Industry Association of The new service, which Barry promised to
America. have ready by July, would use sew software on
Industry and legal expert* questioned how users’ computers to add a layerof security to the
pijpster could raise s2QontiUiQna
year, given that few oftecununtmM restrict the fidelity of recordings and bar users
expected to sign up for the new versiotf, Napster's from transferring song files to CDs or portable
:model assumes that mdtefiian 98 percent of the devices unless they paid extra fees.
$4 milfionregistered - - to be resolved is whether users would lose
vice in the face of the t ww fees, whicharetenta- lability to play die files they download firam
fiyely set at S 3 to $lO pitSaonth. each other if they stopped paying their monthly
If Napster loses 98 percent of its current us- fees. Barry said he would not like to do fhat, but
ers, it will only have about a million people pay- that issue is open for negotiation with tjad labels.
PAGE 3B:
Caught in the Grasp
by Doug Smith
NASCAR will never be the same
PAGE 4B:
Tribute to Dale Earnhardt
including these stories
Earnhardt dies from Daytona 500 crash
and
Losing a Legend - by Jason Snyder
ing for the service, said Phil Leigh, ah analyst at
the Raymond James Associates Inc. investment
bank in St Petersburg, Fla.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2001